Crime victim advocates call for repeal of prison realignment

Calling for justice for child victims of crime, advocates from across the country gathered in Rancho Cordova Friday night to demand changes to California's controversial prison realignment plan.

"Instead of calling it prison realignment, they should call it a felon dump," said Marc Klaas, president of Klaas Kids Foundation. Klaas formed the group after his daughter, Polly Klaas, was kidnapped from her Santa Rosa home and killed by a stranger in 1993.

Today, Klaas is highly critical of AB 109, the legislation that created California's prison realignment program. That plan has, in fact, reduced overcrowding by shifting 24,000 inmates from state prisons to county jails.

Marc and Cindy Sconce are grieving the loss of their 12-year-old daughter Courtney, who was abducted near her Rancho Cordova home and killed by a stranger 13 years ago. Both parents were attending a three-day summit in Rancho Cordova, aimed at eliminating crimes against children. The Sconces are also critical of prison realignment.

"I don't think it's working like they planned," Marc Sconce told KCRA 3. "I think it was a feel-good measure, a quick fix and I don't think it panned out."

A KCRA 3 investigation last November revealed that many county jails are full, with no room for sex offenders who cut off an ankle bracelet. The number of GPS violators has jumped by 15 percent since realignment, according to figures released by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

"We're calling for a complete repeal of AB 109," said Kathleen Moore, of Army of Angels, a child-advocacy group.

Advocates say they want an end to realignment, which was created in response to a federal court order. Prison officials defended the program, calling it historic reform.

In a statement to KCRA 3, CDCR spokesman Jeffrey Callison said, "Realignment is also part of a longer-term and sweeping reform of California's criminal justice system. The benefits of that reform are already being seen with lower-level offenders being incarcerated and supervised closer to home, and that has a well-documented positive effect on the prospects for rehabilitation."

Callison added, "Realignment is also backed up by hundreds of millions of dollars of support annually from the state. It also enjoys the support of many criminal justice professionals and organizations."

Crime-victim advocates told KCRA 3 they hope to get help from the California legislature to repeal prison realignment but if not, they said they will start to gather signatures to bring the issue directly to California voters.

One of the child-advocate groups, Army of Angels, is sponsoring a motorcycle ride starting on Sunday from Sacramento to Washington, D.C. The group's goal is to raise awareness about child abuse.

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